Veritas MCMXXVII
by Alzipher
Summary: Edward was twenty six years old when he ran away from home and decided to drink human blood. Ninety years later he suffers the consequences when his old lover decides that the Cullen families business is his business. OC & Slash warnings ahead of time.OMC
1. Chapter 1

**To the Masses:** I'm banking on none of you being history buffs, but if you do find any inaccuracies a polite note is all that's required to fix the mistake.

**Soundtrack:** These Things Take Time (Sanctus Real), Feeling Good (Jennifer Hudson or Muse, depending on the mood), Yellow (Coldplay).

**Warnings:** AU & OOC (All fanfics are), Slash, mentions of some very disturbing things like child abuse and sexual assault. OC's.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Twilight. I do own Lily though, and you can't have him just yet.

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**Chapter One**

"_When the power of love overcomes the love of power the world will know peace," Bob Marley _

Edward Cullen was twenty six years old when he ran away from home and decided to drink human blood.

It started one morning –no, maybe it started before that day; nine years prior, when Carlisle Cullen offered to preserve his existence. Edward was only seventeen then, weak from the Spanish Influenza that had recently taken his mother, and he wasn't ready to die. When he said yes Carlisle had bent over him with an almost melancholy look in his golden eyes, just before he sank his fangs into Edwards's carotid artery.

The change took three days and when he emerged from the fire he realized a monster had been unleashed.

The inner most private thoughts of everyone around him were his to read or see –even against his will, when he was thinking of nothing in particular.

Carlisle was an intellectual who thought in words; like old script written on tan parchment. The first thoughts Edward read were full of worry for his new child and the people around them.

At the time Edward didn't have time to appreciate those thoughts. He only knew a deep and burning thirst. It was all consuming, the way music had been to his human mind, only he didn't know how to sate the new need.

Carlisle took him away that first night, in a whirlwind of chaos that the Influenza Epidemic had brought among the people. It wasn't hard for Doctor Carlisle Cullen and Edward Anthony Masen to slip past the frantic humans and reappear in a different state as Doctor Carlisle Platt and his son Anthony. Paperwork had been easier to forge in those days and their very existence made it mandatory that they keep a low profile.

They stayed in a shady motel, on one of the sunny days between Chicago and Ashland, just long enough for Edward to regain his equilibrium and accept the changes that had been made. Carlisle refused to give him any privacy. His thoughts betrayed him, but it made it easier for Edward to accept his presence knowing that the doctor was just worried for him.

From his mind he gleaned facts about Newborns and he read the story of how Carlisle had become what he was. Edward experienced Carlisle's struggle with self control, that first surgery that he'd performed, and the pride he felt when he succeeded in ridding a woman of gangrene.

Edward found it fascinating that the people of the 17th century didn't know how blood circulation worked, and believed that any blood they drank would go right into their circulatory system rather than their digestive one. He could see how it would have been easier in that time; no one would have thought twice about Doctor Cullen drinking a bit of animal blood here or there.

He was utterly captivated by the voyage on ship from London to the U.S. He watched the thoughts play out in awe, until he wondered if Carlisle had been hungry. Surely he would have been, Edward wondered to himself. That was when he realized the doctor had been concentrating on thoughts that would ease Edwards mind, and he turned his attention else were just to spite him.

Then he heard it, very lightly at first but the thoughts became louder as he focused. He stood from his chair in shock, knocking it over and alerting Carlisle. It was all he could do to stare at the wall with his mouth hanging open, not even bothering to curl a lip over his canines to preserve his image.

Edward didn't know what he was hearing first. It just sounded like crying to him, but his physical ears picked up nothing but the sounds of sex, which he had already learned to ignore (he couldn't possibly be embarrassed if he pretended not to hear it, right?). He could hear a man who thought in sound, taking pleasure in what he was doing. At first he thought the man was with a woman, but when he concentrated on the other mind in the room he didn't see erotic thoughts. He saw a man that looked like a monster, closer to what a grizzly would look like but with large horns atop his hairy head. He saw long, yellow teeth that snapped at her like a dog and could practically feel the long dollops of drool that splattered across her face.

A cold hand wrapped around his neck, preventing him from rushing forward –though the wall and slaying the monster. It was Carlisle who slowly pulled him towards the phone, because he didn't trust what either of them would do if he let go of his fledging, and dialed room service. He whispered hurriedly about hearing things in the next room and pleaded with the woman to send an officer or someone, _anyone _and he couldn't leave because his son had become violently ill. He urged Edward to lie on the bed, wrapped the Newborn in the scratchy motel sheets before he left to join the man that would nock the door down.

Edward remained where he was, but didn't trust himself outside of the room. He paid special attention to Carlisle's presence as he treated the little, crying girl who had been gagged and threatened by a man from the town. He listened as he told her it would be all right, and he took those words to heart because everything _had_ to be okay. If everything wasn't okay, if that man was allowed to live (which he was assured wasn't the case) he didn't know what he would do.

Then it happened again, the very next day when Carlisle allowed Edward to walk with him to check out. He was examining the individual threads that made up his favorite waistcoat when a woman, who thought in distorted images, began to think of how much easier it would be to handle her son if she gave him some of her favorite drugs. The child had been three years old, and Edward wanted to rip her fucking head off.

A strong hand on his wrist led him out of the door and towards the train station.

After three years Carlisle fell in love, again. According to his parchment thoughts he'd met the woman before, ten years prior to her dive off of a cliff.

Edward wasn't there when the town folk brought her broken and bleeding body into the small clinic, but he recognized her from the high school Carlisle had practically forced him to attend. He read through his sire's written thoughts as he asked her if she wanted to live, as he fought against every fiber of his being to beg her to take their curse. He practically sagged in relief when she'd said yes, and Carlisle bent low to drip venom into her open wounds.

He'd readied his room for her visit; tacked blankets and carpets to the wall to muffle the screams, gathered towels and a large bowl of water to use when her body started to rid of human dirt and waste, and set out to fulfill his thirst with the local wild life and collect some rabbits for her when she woke up.

He had filled the bathroom with live rabbits by the time his sire returned with a shivering woman in his arms. He explained, even though he didn't have to, that he'd listed her as deceased and that he swore with God as his witness that he was going to marry the woman.

Edward could only give him an incredulous stare before he led him to his old, modified room.

Esme joined them three days later, ready to feast on rabbits and asked Carlisle question after question. Edward read her, fascinated. The woman thought in Monet; soft colors and tiny brush strokes. He told her in so many words that he was there for her, and that her baby had been just as beautiful as her thoughts.

For a while the monsters couldn't reach him. He thought that it was quite possible he just hadn't noticed while he and Carlisle taught Esme, his new mother, their ways. She teased Carlisle endlessly about the use of her maiden name as a pseudonym while they lived in Ashland, while he teased her in return for using his. After her transition it was time to move again, but this time they used Edward's human name. They became Doctor Carlisle and Esme Masen and their son Edward of Michigan.

Edward watched his sire and his mate dance in happiness so pure it was almost disgusting for a little over six years. He could see the beautiful script of Esme's name over and over again in Carlisle's thoughts and watched the beautiful paintings Esme made in her mind that reflected their sire.

Carlisle and Edward had been invited to go golfing with the Dean of Medicine of the Michigan hospital Carlisle was working at one Saturday morning. Edward had never met the man and he wished that he never had.

Orson Combs was a disgusting man who thought in shades of green and yellow. He didn't manage stress well, but on the weekends he would drive to the next city and visit a harem house that looked more like twenty tool sheds shoved together into one pile of rooms. They catered from tastes that ranged from six year old boys to seventy year old grandmothers. Doctor Combs was a pursuer of the later, taking the hate he felt for his own mother out on the fragile women –some of which couldn't even remember their own names on a good day.

By then he had suffered nine years in silence about the horrors of the world that he gleamed every day. He was done taking humanity with a grain of salt; he just wanted it to end. He waited until they reached the ninth hole and Carlisle had moved ahead to mark where his ball had landed. Edward counted a hundred yards before he –in the span of a single second- moved forward and ripped through the neck of Orson Combs.

He read the shock on Carlisle's ink and parchment thoughts; he imagined the disappointment reflected in Esme's beautiful Monet colors. He thought of the grandmothers who had been sold by their own families rather than taken to convalescent homes.

Edward saw his own red eyes reflected in painful starkness in Carlisle's thoughts, one of the few images he'd ever thought. Then he was gone, in the span of time it took a human to blink.

First he went south; he tore the whore house apart with his bare hands, drinking from frightened customers and sadistic proprietors alike. He was no longer thirsty by the time he reached the last man, but by then it didn't matter –Edward had already decided to kill every monster he could find.

The next year passed in a blur of criminals and victims. He never changed his clothes, and lost his shoes and favorite vest along the way. He looked positively feral in the minds of other's, when he allowed them to glimpse him. It was better that way though, more likely to strike fear into the men and women whom he would kill.

Edward also became a master at hunting, not just in search for more evil-doers, but he learned to cover his trail so that Carlisle and Esme couldn't find him. At first he relied on other's thoughts; his parents always stuck out in a crowed place and people remembered them clearly. It only took six months to loose them completely, and if his calculations were right they were likely looking for him in Texas somewhere. If he was lucky they'd get as far as South America before they realized he'd sent them on several wild goose chases.

It was nearly the anniversary of his first year as a dangerous vigilante when he stumbled across his first lone vampire.

At first sight it was hard to tell their gender, but a flat chest and deep, possessive growl cleared the issue up. Edward himself, had been ravaged by the Spanish Influenza and left thin, but this man was tiny on an entirely different scale. His long hair had also been rather deceptive, and fell around him in pitch black waves that were held away from his face by a band of embroidered silk. He wore a blood stained tunic over a pair of common slacks, but remained bare armed and barefoot.

Edward was very embarrassed to be caught still staring by the time the little man was done feeding, and pushed the very criminal Edward had been tracking to the ground. His eyes watched every tiny movement as the man brought a hand up and wiped the blood away from his round chin but accidentally streaked it across his high cheekbones. When he glanced at red, almond shaped eyes he felt that if he could flush he would have.

Only then did he realize he hadn't been listening in on the man's thoughts. Not because they were quiet, or he couldn't. To Edward people thought in the different ways they tended to perceive the world, but this tiny person saw the world exactly as it was. His thoughts didn't look any different then the way the world really was; a realist in the very definition of the word.

"Who are you?" Edward asked, or rather _demanded_ to know. He was watching the man's thoughts closely and was shocked to see the golden letters appeared around his head and spiraled around his body.

Carlisle had once explained his theory, that everybody thought their strongest quality to the other side. It made since to him, because he'd always been able to read those around him with only a glance at their expression or posture. So the golden letters in his thoughts must have been his own gift.

He smirked in return, "You can call me Lily." His voice wasn't as deep as the growl had been, but was light and airy. "You can read my thoughts," he added a moment later.

Edward followed his thoughts and nodded, "Your full name," the man that called himself Lily thought of it, "Is Laelius Laurentinus. That's Roman, correct?" That was apparently a good enough answer. "Lily is easier to pronounce," Edward agreed.

"You mean that it doesn't catch as much attention," Lily replied, brushing his long waves behind him before kicking the dead man to the very edge of the alley and walking towards Edward. "I don't think I have to tell you how I know that."

Edward had nothing to fear from the man, except perhaps the rather obvious sexual propositions on the very tip of his tongue. Edward was twenty seven, celebrated his birthday by feasting on a ring of human traffickers, and had never been with another person in such a way. He was embarrassed, excited, curious, and nervous all at the same time.

"You know the truth," Edward said aloud, "of everything."

"I see the universally accepted truth behind other's words. And you," Lily said playfully while tapping Edward's chest with a strong finger, "are excited to meet someone like you, who is offering relations that you will most certainly accept."

That was the beginning of a world-wind romance, the first of many that involved the two of them.

Lily understood him in some ways. When a woman said she loved her husband Lily could read, in a code that involved Roman numerals that appeared in his vision, that she was afraid to be alone. When one man said he loved his daughter what he meant was that he loved the way her hips were shaping and would take advantage of her soon or already had. A very memorable prostitute had said she enjoyed her work, but the truth was that she didn't see another way to feed her four children.

When they knew each other well enough to share their histories Edward told him of the Spanish Flu and his death. He spoke of Carlisle and Esme, and Lily was fascinated to know they survived off of animal blood without any ill side effects. In return Lily thought long and hard of ancient Rome, something Edward felt confident he could watch for hours and hours –in fact he did, so long as Lily (who eventually allowed Edward to call him Laelius if as he used the proper, ancient Roman pronunciation) felt inclined to share.

Despite his upbringing in a nice, Catholic home it didn't bother Edward a bit that he slept with Laelius (which he called Lily after he took the time to learn the proper, tongue tying pronunciation). At first he thought it was because Lily looked so feminine and claimed a woman's name, but that theory made way for a new one when he learned that Laelius had been a concubine for the Seventh King of Rome before he'd been turned and maybe his sexual presence had followed him over. That hypothesis lasted as long as it took for him to think of it, and as soon as he opened his mouth to ask a question golden numerals appeared above his head and Laelius threw a book at him.

Eventually he decided it didn't matter what attracted him to the ancient vampire –the very one he'd jumped in bed with that first night, just as soon as Lily had ripped his pants off and exposed long, lithe legs. What did matter was that they fit together, almost seamlessly. Even their Cursed-Gifts (as they'd taken to calling them) complimented each other.

Lily never had a problem with Edward's anatomy, his sour or introspective moods, or his fondness for ripping Lily's clothing. If he was going to be annoyed about anything it would be how young Edward was. He absolutely hated Newborns, couldn't stand the thought of them, and nine years born was still a Newborn in his opinion.

Relationships proved to be hard when you could hear your lovers every thought though, and they knew the deepest truths behind something as simple as a sigh. Granted, it took a year and a half for it to become an issue between Edward and Lily, but it really was considered a record for the both of them. Edward never wanted a relationship with a human because they were just so breakable and he could never expose what he really was to them, and Laelius could never date his food so it wasn't exactly common for either of them to take lovers. And they did love each other, very deeply, but they didn't always like each other.

For the first year and a half they hunted together, until Laelius began to give thought to the humanitarian diet that Carlisle was so passionate about. Eventually it became routine for Lily to part with Edward when they'd found a suitable criminal for the night, and he'd try the different livestock. Edward had once told him mountain lion was his favorite, but Lily was rather partial to wolf –possibly because of the irony, that the man who founded Rome had supposedly been raised by one. The red in his eyes slowly gave way to a shade of orange that reminded Edward of the sunset.

Then Laelius' thoughts began to drift to annoyance at Edwards feeding habits and Edward would say he wanted to read quietly but he would mean that he wanted some space -without Lily in it.

The final catalyst came when an ancient showed up at Laelius' cave with conviction, because if King Leonidas was going to enter a room it would be with the certainty that he was the most important person in the immediate area and he should be treated like the king he was. His aggressive thoughts reflected it all and it didn't take long for Edward and the ancient Spartan to start nipping at each others throats. What really lit Edward's fuse was the annoyance Lily had for Edward's behavior and the adoration he had for the intruder.

Leonidas was a good looking man; there was no doubt about that. His hair was near shoulder length and he kept the ancient hair style he wore when he'd been alive. His muscles were thick but didn't hinder his movements at all, and he carried the many scars he'd won as a human warrior. He and Lily looked perfect together, like old statues of lovers with complimentary features and matching clothes. Edward's esteem certainly took a blow standing next to him.

For an hour Laelius spoke to 'Leo' like an old lover, telling him of the vegetarian diet that Doctor Carlisle believed in. Edward felt positively infantile around them when the conversations turned towards the old times, old friends, and other things that used to have been.

In the end he'd stormed out and didn't look back. He'd been angry at the two of them, thinking they'd be perfect for each other. They were both old as dirt, both arrogant, both willing to leave the path of the vigilante vampire. Lily didn't even think about following him.

He lasted six more months by himself, which he spent tracking down an entire mafia family. For an entire six months he despaired over his parents and his first love lost. After that time he'd had hauled himself up in a small cave for the day when it clicked. He'd been jealous of his parent's love for one another, he'd been angry over the monstrous humans, he'd been jealous of Leonidas (king or not, it didn't matter to Edward). He knew Lily and he would never live in unperturbed happiness like Carlisle and Esme, it just didn't work when you knew the unforgiving truth like they did. That didn't mean he couldn't love Lily in his own way though, and it was Laelius' love that had driven him to feeding from animals. It was out of love that Laelius needled him into returning to his vegetarian ways, because Lily knew he missed his parents and would never hurt them by returning with red eyes.

It took a month for the red to bleed away, but instead of the light gold color his eyes used to be they were a darker hue. It took a week to realize his eyes would remain topaz, and that they were forever tainted as proof that he'd fed off of humans. He hoped that Carlisle wouldn't mind.

When Edward did decide to find his parents he discovered they'd settled in a town only an hour's run away. The knowledge filled Edward with guilt and relief, then he couldn't help but wonder if Lily were somehow involved –as the little Roman tended to believe that everyone's business was his business.

Esme flung her arms around him before he even reached the little piece of farmland they'd been living on. She tearlessly sobbed into his chest as he wrapped his arms around her and he let her rock them both back and forth. Carlisle stood in the doorway, two miles off, but Edward could see him with clarity and would treasure the reassuring smile for centuries.

They didn't invite him in. Instead Esme took his arm and led him inside to show him the room that she had designed with him in mind, and she'd kept all of his vinyl on neat shelves next to his gramophone. They sat around the dinner table that night, without dishes or food, and talked well into the morning.

"You almost lost us when you drifted south. We could have ended up in Mexico," Esme said cheerfully as her mind filled with beautiful images of bison and flat plains.

They told him of all the many ways they'd gone and both chastised him and congratulated him on his efforts. They didn't talk about the many deaths, all of which Edward remembered with clarity and knew that his parents had marked in the obituaries of whatever newspaper was local. They talked about the changes that they didn't go through together, but it had only been three years and they could talk very fast. Then, they shocked him both with the knowledge that an ancient that appeared on their front porch one evening and introduced himself as Leo. They hadn't known his age, but Carlisle reflected that he must have been very old to have an old roman hairstyle.

Edward marveled at the image of King Leonidas stalking in and proclaiming that their idiot son was doing well and washing behind his ears before stomping out. He'd returned the next month and said something along the same lines, only staying long enough to tell the Cullen's his name before disappearing again. It went on for seven months, and then Leo appeared with Lily in tow, said that their idiot son was once again off on his own but that Lily was confident he would get the point sooner or later and thanked Carlisle but didn't elaborate.

"Lily," he'd almost called him 'Laelius' in front of his parents, before he remembered Lily was always very picky about how his name was pronounced, "he's a humanitarian," he tried to explain. "He was so happy when I told him you," Edward paused to reevaluate his words, "That we only feed off on animals. Leo," here he had to keep himself from growling in a rather childish manner, "seemed equally excited about the idea. They both seem to really like people."

"You've met them then?" Esme asked excitedly. Edward stared for a moment at Esme's perception of Lily, so beautiful and childlike in a timeworn tunic. They'd been apart for six months and Edward missed his teasing jibes and old songs, and he so desperately wanted to apologize for the way he'd walked out.

"I," Edward began. He had become so used to telling the truth exactly the way he'd thought it, because Lily was just going to know anyway so there was no point in hiding it. Because when he told the absolute truth the golden letters wouldn't appear around his head and that always made Lily happier than anything else could, even if they were screaming at each other.

"I met Lily two years ago, and we stayed together for a while," he admitted, but didn't disclose the nature of their relationship. Not that it mattered because there was something about parents that led them to the truth no matter how cleverly disguised he thought it was. Esme gave him a knowing pat and Carlisle began to reevaluate everything he knew form the brief meeting he had with Leo and Lily. In the end his sire decided he must have been lonely and noted to himself that he would like to see Edward happy and settled down soon.

Two years later Edward met his punishment with as much grace as he could muster, when Rosalie Hale walked into the house stinking of human blood as if she owned the place.

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**To Those Who Just Read: **

I worry about how Lily turned out. Too Gary-Stu? I despair…quietly…over in my middle-child corner.

This is just the prologue. I'm not going to take you all through the clandestine meetings turned sour that Edward and Lily have over the years. I do have a favorite…it happens…right before 1970. Anyone who can tell me what that major event is will get a giant Spoiler Cookie.

I didn't include a lot of dialogue on purpose. If I got into writing it then I wouldn't have stopped and the chapter would turn into ten. Also it's meant to highlight some important information and characterization for later. Next chapter does include Bella, and takes place….gosh, I haven't decided yet. Either during the time right after Edward leaves Bella, right before Edwards meeting with the Volturi, or sometime right before the Newborn attacks. I'm still debating, internally.

I'm sure there's something else I wanted to say…and I am forever forgetting what it is. Again, five am writing is never good writing…Except, the extreme tiredness lowers my inhibitions just enough to actually write with emotions and stuff. Just you wait, after I get some rest I'm going to be mortified I actually posted this.

I like quotes, song suggestions, and reviews,

Alzipher


	2. Chapter 2

**To the Masses:** The second try for chapter two. I realized I didn't really want to reintroduce Lily so soon. It's got to be bigger than that. Way bigger.

I mean to explain in the last chapter why I decided to call this story Veritas MCMXXVII. Veritas is latin for 'truth' and is what Lily calls his curse-gift, and MCMXXVII means 1927, for the year Lily first met Edward.

**Soundtrack:** Little Lion Man (Mumford & Sons), If I Was Your Vampire (Marilyn Manson), Cold (Static X)

**Warnings:** AU & OOC (All fanfics are), Slash, mentions of some very disturbing things like child abuse and sexual assault. OC's. Hopefully no bashing of any character, but if it's there I didn't notice.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Twilight or any of the fictional or non-fictional characters from other books. I do own Lily, and I still like him so far.

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**Chapter Two**

'_A heart that loves is always young' Proverb_

Edward was the third to arrive at the designated training ground, but the first vampire to show. Considering the fact that he had sprinted from the school grounds just seconds after the final bell rang, he began to suspect that the wolves were skipping classes.

The two in the clearing were Young Wolf and Grouchy Wolf or as they were more commonly referred to as, Seth and Paul.

Edward reminded himself not to stare and settled himself between the roots of a large tree, prepared to wait for his family.

Bella, his beloved silence, wouldn't be joining them. She needed time to complete her homework and to spend the evening with her father. She hadn't been happy with that choice, but Edward wasn't going to allow her to forget what really mattered in life. It was possible that Edward wanted her to spend so much time with her father because he had so little time with his.

On top of everything, all of the stress that was associated with preparing for battle and keeping up with his human duties, she'd wanted him to stay with her that night. He didn't have time, for one and he was the only one that could translate for the wolves. They weren't comfortable with remaining human around the Cullen's, not that Edward blamed them for that. Their very nature was altered to fight vampires, so it was very likely that the two clans would never trust each other. Because of the duties though, he wouldn't spend his night with Bella and guarding her fell to Rosalie, Alice, and various shifts of wolf protectors.

They weren't really werewolves, Edward remind himself. He'd seen wolves in the minds of older vampires and they looked like furry humanoids, with no sense to their minds. These were Skinwalkers, not the first of their kind but they were the only tribe of wolves. The only other tribe Edward knew about had been slaughtered in an effort to keep them from killing all of the settlers within a hundred mile radius. Rebecca Rolfe was the name of the woman who led the attack, and among her chosen fighters were Leo and Lily –two of Edwards oldest friends (sort of). They killed every Paradise Bird along the Ozarks, and the year had been 1641 –over three hundred and fifty years before Edward was even born, and a little over twenty before Carlisle had been bitten by a vampire.

Recalling the memories Laelius had shared with him brought the little Roman to the forefront of his mind. They'd kept in contact in the years between their meetings. It wasn't a constant thing, but it was enough to reassure the other that they were still alive.

After their first fight, in which Edward stormed out of the cave they spent their sunny days with a gut full of anger and jealousy, it took them ten years to forgive one another. In reality, it took Lily one month to forgive Edward and it took Edward six months to forgive Lily –but each was afraid the other was still holding a grudge, so they kept their distance.

Edward remembered that June evening clearly, on the night of his birthday. Lily had bound across their lawn and vaulted into Edwards waiting arms, like some dramatic couple out of a really dysfunctional chick-flick. They had the decency not to neck like starving men, right there in front of Edward's family, but there was no mistaking the ten years worth of sexual frustration between the two.

Rosalie had been very smug, as far as Edward gathered from her mirror like thoughts. She had been glad to know that Edward's quick rejection of her must have had something to do with the scantily clad imp in his arms. Really though, Edward had to keep himself from explaining to his sister for the hundredth time that he'd rejected her because she was an narcissistic drama queen with severe trust issues.

Emmett was just a little disappointed that he had to cross all of the virgin jokes off of his long list of ways to tease Edward. He got over it quickly enough, and Edward indulged himself by watching the cartoons play out in his brother's head; images of Edward and Lily frolicking through a field of flowers.

Esme and Carlisle had greeted Lily like an old friend, but each of their minds quickly filled with questions about him, his past, his age, his gift. None of which Lily was feeling inclined to answer

Unfortunately for them, the entire world actually, it was the year 1941 and the Second World War was raging in Europe. As a vampire there was nothing any of them could do without exposing themselves to the rest of the world, but as a humanitarian Lily couldn't sit by and watch.

He told Edward and the rest of the Cullen family about Leo and a few other vampires creating a regiment designed to destroy the Axis powers by night. Edward remembered everything clearly, it was impossible not to, but the next four years stood out in his memory. He recalled the saved lives and Nazi's killed, but he wasn't certain how it would compare to the army of Newborns.

A heavy growl brought Edward back to attention and he quickly surveyed the area. Both Seth and Paul were on their feet and glowering in the same direction. He searched the trees for a mind, and found it seconds later. It was instantly recognizable; like a Native's village in the time before there were the thirteen colonies, full of bright paintings on animal hide, and contained an unmatched dedication to whatever cause she was rallying.

"It's a friend," Edward said before the wolves could leap forward and attack her. Neither of them backed down, but instead they continued to bear their teeth even though their minds had been made up not to kill the newest leech. Edward though, was still skeptical. He wasn't sure how they would take the news of who the woman really was, or how they would feel about an ancient Native who had been turned on the eve of her twenty-third birthday.

Rebecca Rolfe, an old friend of Lily and Leo, broke through the tree line seconds later with an eat-shit grin spread across his distinct features. Her molten eyes were lit with such enthusiasm that Edward was nearly too frightened to know why. It was no secret the woman was a warrior, and they'd fought together several times during the early forties, but she was strange in what she took joy out of in life.

Ghostly figures in the shapes of animals passed over her thoughts and Edward was quick to grasp the meaning of them. Rebecca knew about the upcoming battle against Victoria and her army, she alerted a few of her friends (who, no doubt told a few of their own), and she came with grave news.

"Lily's coming then," Edward said with resignation. They hadn't seen each other for nearly nine years, ever since they rang in the new millennium together. That was the night Lily told him that if he ever found a mind he couldn't access he would take that change, and he would struggle to make it work. Lily believed that if either of them had a chance at a normal(ish) relationship they should at least try, especially Edward –who needed someone who he could see as human rather than another monster of humanity. Edward was worried how Lily would take the news that he'd found his blissful silence, and that she was human.

Rebecca nodded towards Edward while ignoring the wolves. He knew she'd seen and smelled them; her mind was half occupied with rude comments and memories of the Paradise Birds. "I came ahead. He's babysitting Myrddin this decade and it's hard to get the little bastard to do anything since..." she trailed off, knowing that the next words were far too hurtful for everyone involved. Arthur's death still weighed heavily on her mind.

"I don't know when the others will arrive," names and faces filtered through Rebecca's mind and Edward wondered why so many were joining them. It wasn't because Newborn armies were so hated –they were, but there was something more, something in ones and zero's that Edward couldn't yet understand. "You'll have to ask your coven sister," she added after a thought.

Two more wolves, Embry and Quil (Edward didn't bother to differentiate) phased and joined the pack mind. Paul and Seth alerted them both of the situation immediately and one shifted back, no doubt to inform the other wolves that there was a new leech lurking around. By Edward's calculations that meant the rest of the pack would be bounding into the clearing in just a few minutes.

Edward thought he could have liked the wolves mind; it was full of predatory instinct and unity. He liked the feel of it, especially if everyone had joined the pack mind. To Edward each voice was like an instrument and as a collection they sounded like a symphony. The smell though, overrode the beauty of it all.

Seth the Young Wolf, was the most childlike of the pack. He was brimming with curiosity and wonderment when he wasn't mourning the smell. No doubt Rebecca peeked his interests.

She was tall, not like the Amazon's Edward knew, but significantly more than the other women of her time. Rebecca was also fit, with strong muscles along her arms and legs that most modern women abhorred. Her skin had been copper but made ashen by the transformation, her eyes had once been black were golden, and her long black hair was braided away from her face. No doubt she still looked like a Native woman right out of his grandfather's old black and white photos. Truthfully though, Rebecca almost predated cameras–not that she would ever admit it. There were a few inaccurate paintings of her though.

Seth's light thoughts were drawing attention to her, and the curiosity and fury of the others continued to build until Paul turned to Edward and demanded with rather pointed thoughts that he explain who would turn a Native.

"It's not my place to tell you," Edward bit back with frustration, "not every one of us goes around and laments about our past, you mongrel." The older a vampire got the more true that was.

At first a Newborn is almost grateful to tell the story of how they were made, saved from death or boredom or old age. After a while though they realize that other people can't connect with their story because they don't understand the people or ways of their time, they're from an entirely different culture, or it's just no longer anyone else's business. Rebecca's own story was a mixture between all three, but if anyone could understand even a hint it would probably be the wolves.

Alice's mind sent out a signal, the finale of Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture, and Edward obediently focused on her despite their distance. It was like the black room she'd been locked in as a human with flashes of black and white visions of the future. Her voice filtered into the dark room as she told him she'd seen the arrival of several people –some she recognized, some she didn't, and they were abandoning Bella's human day for a full scale meeting. She'd already cleared it with Carlisle and made their excuses with Charlie.

A few more minutes and they would all be gathered, and Rebecca would translate the binary code she was trying to keep secreted away in her mind. As far as minds went Rebecca's was one of the hardest to translate, but she wasn't very good at keeping secrets even when she wanted to.

Edward was contemplating the pros and cons of giving her tips when the rest of the wolves crashed through the trees and they all began to snarl at the newcomer. Rebecca took it all in stride and simply took a seat next to Edward at his tree. They both thought quietly to themselves; Rebecca did him the kindness of thinking of Lily and Edward pretended not to obsess over every single little change. They'd only gotten through 2005 when Edward's coven brothers arrived.

Emmett and Jasper took one look at Rebecca and their hopes for a quick battle dissolved. It wasn't as if they weren't happy to see her. Emmett and Rebecca always got along fantastically, because what was usual for them involved no words and a lot of fighting. Jasper held a lot of respect for her also, just as she did for him. They'd both defeated enemies of their kind; Newborns and Skinwalkers.

"Well I'll be damned," Rebecca said, standing eagerly and holding a strong hand out for Edward's brother to take, "Major Jasper Whitlock. I heard about Third Divisions work in Africa, and how you led them against Caius' guard." Caius, as a member of the Volturi, had a right to his own group of special vampires that he picked for his own reasons. Those reasons so happened to be sadism and an irrational meanness that ran so deep Edward had a hard time believing they were ever human.

Jasper moved forward and took hold of her hand and they shook like civilized people for a few moments as Jasper struggled to recall who she was. "You're Rolfe, aren't you? You led Second Division through Normandy, correct? That was also very good work."

They released their grip on one another and were grinning, "Sure did," she said, "I led the Denali coven and a few others. You though, Myrddin still has good things to say even after all these years. I think he's looking forward to meeting you."

Jasper's smile became strained and his mind began shifting until the map was of North Africa, where Third Division fought against Caius' personal guardians. There were losses for both sides, and Jasper took each one personally. "It wasn't your fault of course," Rebecca added when his expression betrayed him, "it can't be, because" and the next words were said in uncommon vampire formality, "I acknowledge this battle is yours to lead. You'll be in charge, and there will be sacrifices."

"I am thankful Rebecca Rolfe," Jasper said in equal respects, and taking her words to heart.

Half a second went by when something clicked in Leah's mind and traveled through the wolves' orchestra. Edward grinned, because he'd been waiting for that moment –not at all caring if his amusement made him out to be just a little sadistic.

Leah had figured out exactly what that name meant. Rebecca Rolfe was a Native woman who had converted to Christianity when she married a man named John Rolfe, but before that she was called Matoaka, Amonute, and eventually Pocahontas. To Edward, watching several of the wolves choke on their own shock was well worth one secret identity.

Edward harbored no hatred for them, only a strong annoyance for Jacob Black. There was no reason to keep the information from them, especially if they got something out of it. If Seth's mind was any indication, they might get the entire centuries worth of history lessons.

Edward was still snickering though when Rosalie and Alice entered the clearing with Bella in tow, followed by his sire and mother. Bella rushed to him with worry, perhaps she thought he was the one choking. She was in such a state though, that she hadn't noticed the new vampire or that she'd positioned herself between the two of them.

Edward tried to explain while moving her out of his friend's temptation; "I don't need to breathe, so you needn't worry about that."

Bella flushed a hot red color and Rebecca covered her nose with her scarf and began to remind herself that breathing was off limits until the human was far away. She took a few steps to the side so that she was closer to the wolves, where the smell was unbearably horrible.

"Damn," Rebecca said moments later, "we knew you'd found a shield, but no one ever bothered to mention she was a human."

"Is that going to be a problem?" Edward was not at all mean when he asked, but he was concerned. Rebecca wanted to quit human blood when she heard it was possible for them to survive off of animals, but she held out until the end of the war before she tried it herself. Naturally, she hated it. Then again so did Edward and Jasper and Emmett, but Rebecca also wanted to preserve life as much as she could. She'd been clean for a little over sixty years and she wouldn't ruin that record, he could see it in her mind in a swirl of animal shaped smoke and deer skin canvas.

Rebecca answered more for the wolves and the others than for Edward, and she took an extra care to stay near the wolves or upwind. "Lily's going to have a fit," she said finally, "but I don't have an issue with it."

"Who's Lily?" Bella asked, her voice ringing out with reason and a hint of uncertainty but her mind was blissfully beyond his reach. "Is she a vegetarian also?"

Emmett let out a barking laugh, but was silenced by a sharp look from the rest of his coven (sans Alice who stared into space with a blissful smile). The irony in the situation didn't escape any of them, but Edward's eternal happiness was a little higher on their priority list.

"Rolfe was correct," Alice interrupted in a dreamy voice, "Lily will not take the news well, but not because she's human. He is more concerned with the _meaning _of her words." She said it as if the world held a great significance, and it did but only she and Edward really knew. Rebecca could suspect all she wanted, but she was old enough to know that Ancient's did not like to advertise their gifts. Even her own gift was a big secret, as was Jasper's. Alice and Edward's own extra mental bits would have been just as unknown if the Volturi hadn't taken an interest in them.

"And yes," Edward added to Bella and the wolves, "he hasn't fed off of humans since 1929."

The Alpha Wolf's growl broke through their conversation. Sam's thoughts were frustrated and quick in tempo; he didn't like being ignored and he wasn't sure what to think of the information he'd gleaned from the vampires chummy conversation. He might also have been experiencing a little residual shock, but at an Alpha he couldn't admit it.

"They want to know what you're here for," Edward translated, "because it's obvious we didn't know you were coming."

"Oh yes," Rebecca said and ruffled through her pockets until she found an old piece of parchment, "Miranda wanted me to give you a message." And the vampires forgot for a moment how to breathe, to blink, or even move. Their own shock wasn't nearly as fun.

"Miranda," Carlisle began, finally taking charge of his coven, "is an old vampire, predating anyone we know. We rely solely on her word, that she is not the first. Her gift is a Universal Truth, like Alice's foresight –only she doesn't predict futures based on the choices of the individuals, but the greatest moments in history."

Rebecca unrolled the parchment and showed it to everyone in the clearing. Scrawled across it were tiny ones and zeros that didn't move across the page line by line, but formed an image of a scarab. "We've all verified what this portrait means," she sounded much more serious than she did earlier, "The next great vampire war will be in Forks, Washington. It will be fought with Skinwakers and freedom fighters, and it will be against not just Victoria's Newborn Army –but several." She paused so that everyone could digest the information, "Lily didn't just send me ahead to tell you he'd be a little late. I'm here to brief everyone on the situation before our forces start pouring in…He might have also mentioned something about being polite to Skinwalkers, but I don't think I heard him correctly." Several snarls came in reply.

"Too many Ancient or Gifted vampires in one area will draw the attention of the Volturi," Carlisle reasoned, "and they'll know we haven't changed Bella."

"Yet," the human interrupted, "but you can change me before they get here, and that won't be a problem." The proposition was apparently reasonable but not acceptable.

The wolves all snarled, especially Jacob Black, and their thoughts sang a unified song of disagreement. His family all had their rather obvious opinions. Jasper thought it would be unwise to have a Newborn on the loose while planning a war; Emmett thought a newborns strength would aid them, Rosalie hated Bella, and Alice was hiding her thoughts. Carlisle thought the matter weighed upon him, Bella would become his wife and they would eventually start a family so it was ultimately up to Edward. Esme trusted Edward to make the right choice regardless, and Edward couldn't help but think his parents thoughts were pointing towards someone else entirely.

Rebecca, as the most objective present, didn't like Bella very much. Of course her money was placed on the odds that Edward and Lily would get married and take over the world together, very literally. If she won she'd get a little over two million US dollars, which she would then have to split with one anonymous better.

"No," Edward's word was final, and he had to carefully press his finger against Bella's lips to keep it that way. "We're not turning you now, and you will finish high school and a year of college."

"But I'm already older than you," Bella tried to argue, and Rebecca so rudely began to cough to cover an even more inappropriate laugh.

"Sorry," she said defensively, "I thought I had something caught in my throat."

"I know the Heimlich!" Emmett quickly shouted out and grabbed Rebecca from behind.

"You're doing it wrong!" Rosalie shrieked a moment later and threw herself on her husband and their old friend.

Alice was quick to grab Jasper with superhuman strength and hurl him onto the others before jumping into the fray. It was rather nostalgic, and Edward longed to join the pile but he couldn't leave Bella's side. Not when she was worked up, like she so usually was after that (much repeated) argument.

Carlisle allowed them to continue for a moment, but when Seth and the two youngest wolves looked ready to join their wresteling game he told them in a rather subdued voice that they'd had enough. Rebecca wasn't obligated to listen to him; he wasn't her sire or coven Lord, and she was over forty years older. However, she did at least try to appear polite.

"When do Lily and Myrddin arrive?" Esme brought the tension back into the clearing. Edward knew she hated to do it, but there were so many things they had yet to go over and Rebecca spoke as if they would be arriving soon.

"Lily's goal is sometime tomorrow, but Myrddin's being difficult. He claims he doesn't want to leave the cabin, but I think he's just saying that because he knows Lily doesn't want to leave it," she explained, "and no one's looking forward to listening to twelve, non-stop hours of Ed and Lily screaming at each other from opposite ends of the town because Ed's being too sparkly or Lily's too short –or something equally as stupid."

When Emmett started laughing again no one bothered to stop him, and the other's struggled to hold in their own amusement.

Edward wanted to be offended. He loved Lily, he really did, but they had issues. Primarily those issues stemmed from the fact that they had no secrets from each other, not even little ones. Lily could think to himself that Edward's pants were the dorkiest he'd ever seen and Edward would know. If he countered with a question of which pants he shout wear, Lily could read that Edward really meant he was offended and really wanted to say that shade of yellow looked horrible on him. The process would then repeat until they started shouting at one another. Really though, they only screamed from opposite ends of a village once, and it wasn't that spacious. So, because Edward knew what Rebecca was saying was true and he knew that people thought it was funny as hell he could only say "Don't call me Ed."

"If you don't like him, why not just avoid him?" Bella suggested, being the only reasonable one in the clearing because the wolves we having a hard time believing that _Perfect_ Edward Cullen would scream at anyone.

"I don't hate him," Edward corrected, "we get along perfectly well, but it is hard to like someone when they think your face looks stupid in a certain light and they always know when you're lying."

"It's hard for two people like them to have a long-term relationship," Rosalie agreed, possible because she hated him and was trying to sabotage his relationship with Bella.

"I lie to Rose all the time," Emmett added, "about little things, like caring what color lipgunk she wears."

"And I let him," Rose added, and they smiled sappily at each other like they were the most in-love couple that ever did wed. Edward thought they'd be great as dysfunctional motivational speakers.

They'd let the cat out of the bag though, and it was their turn to snicker at Edward. Several of the wolves were even thinking that they knew he had to be gay, and Jacob Black was over the moon in happiness.

"Relationship," Belle echoed, which had Emmett clutching his side sin suppressed laughter. "Why didn't you tell me?" Several eyes shifted from the still-consolable human to Edward in tandem.

"You haven't asked me about my past relationships," Edward said in polite defense and sounding very apologetic, and yes he did hear Paul taking mental notes. The eyes shifted back to Bella.

"Who have you dated before me?" She was beginning to sound more upset than distressed, a territory Edward was familiar with but didn't think his human girlfriend would tread –at least not about that.

Emmett and Jasper, his coven brothers (like any other type of brother) thought it was their business to help him explain. "There was that crazy Spanish bitch," Emmett was far too enthusiastic to say, "She tried to kill us with an axe."

Edward could only roll his eyes and grit his teeth.

"That nice Canadian," Jasper added thoughtfully "he was sad to see us go, but at least he didn't try to behead us."

"Don't forget Tanya," Rosalie mirrored the enthusiasm of her husband and brother, "she tried to kill Lily."

There was a moment of silence before the three of them and Alice said "Lily," in tandem. "He didn't seem crazy," Emmett added helpfully, "even though we've only met him briefly and on very few occasions."

"I've _Seen_ him a few times," Alice said happily, "and we had a nice conversation just before he and Edward left for Woodstock."

Yes, _The_ Woostock Festival, Edward wanted to say in reply to many of the incredulous questions the wolves had. Then Emmett really did ask aloud and Edward could only answer his question with another question; "Where did you think I went in August of '69?"

"Seriously though," Emmett said in a huff, "how could you not tell us? You didn't tell us when you went off to see him in '48 either. Are we supposed to question you every time a new cabin pops up somewhere in the world or people post pictures of you on their facebooks? Do I have to get a facebook?"

"Boys," Carlisle warned and the hostility was immediately forgotten. He thought pensively for a while and Edward tracked his parchment thoughts, both liking and hating where he was going with them. "Maybe you should escort Lily and Myrddin, so that he no longer has an excuse not to leave. Knowing what we do about them, which I'll admit isn't enough, Myrddin could take a year or two to convince otherwise."

Jasper nodded, having been one to spend an extended amount of time with him, "he did tend to take his time, unless Arthur," he didn't allow himself to finish the statement and yet another good mood fell to ruin. "I also think you should go."

"Yes," Rosalie quickly agreed. Her money was on the odds that they would destroy the world in a heated argument, and she would only have to share the pot with two solitary vampires.

"Yeah, sure," Emmett said happily enough, raising his own hand to the vote.

Jasper and Esme quietly followed and Alice giggled before raising her hand, "it would be quicker." Of that she was certain.

"I don't think you should go," Bella said vehemently, but by some miracle did not stomp her foot like Rebecca thought she would. Emmett would have -then again Emmett wasn't entirely sure what self control was.

Edward glimpsed his family's thoughts and in Rosalie's mirrored mind saw that she didn't believe Bella's vote counted. She seemed to be on the verge of a rant that would likely include the phrases 'you idiot' and 'marry Lily.' She must really want to win that bet.

"It's decided then," Edward said aloud, "I'll retrieve Lily and Myrddin, we will likely find Leo not far from the cabin, and we'll alert whoever is staying in Rouge Manor."

The place he spoke of used to be one of Rosalie and Emmett's old houses, that Edward and Jasper fixed up when they were done having sex through it (in a very literal way). It had meant to be a temporary house for a nomad couple that Jasper knew, but it turned into a half-way house for vampires –usually those who wished to no longer feed off of humans but weren't ready to join the population. Rouge Manor was built in the wilds of Oregon, which Edward would be passing on his way to his old California cabin.

"Peter and Charlotte," The nomadic couple from Jasper's early years, "are still there, keeping everything organized," Alice said confidently, "and a few other wonderers."

Edward nodded even more certain, "Then our odds are starting to look up." He spared a glance at Bella and could see both hurt and determination in her expressive brown eyes. "I'll be back soon," he said, kissed her forehead, and was gone.

Edward couldn't help but travel as quickly as he could. It had been nearly nine years since he'd seen Lily –and they'd parted on good terms. Myrddin needed silence and isolation, so Lily took to the cabin they'd once shared in northern California and the Cullen coven continued on with their endless cycle of learning. He couldn't help but think, as he moved further south, that it felt like he was going home.

* * *

**To Those Who Just Read: **

I'm stopping there because I'm tired.

I introduced more people this chapter and I hope they come across as well rounded and not Mary-Sue's or Gary-Stu's. Rebecca Rolfe is Pocahontas, Myrddin Emrys is Merlin, that crazy Spanish bitch has no development so far, and neither does nice Canadian man.

Hopefully I didn't bash anyone. I really didn't mean to.

I'm sure there was other stuff I meant to explain…but guess what time I'm writing? And I'm tired.

I like quotes, song suggestions, and reviews. I really like reviews (really).

Alzipher


	3. Chapter 3

**To the Masses:** It's been a while, yeah? Considering my masses are made up of –I'd go check, but I'm sure the number is still small.

Soundtrack: Changing (Airborn Toxic Event), Teenage Dream (Katy Perry, Edward and Lily's official song so far), and The Ballad of Mona Lisa (Panic At The Disco)

Warnings: AU & OOC (All fanfics are), Slash, mentions of some very disturbing things like child abuse and sexual assault, mention of character death. OC's. Hopefully no bashing of any character, but if it's there I didn't notice.

Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight or BBC Merlin. I also didn't intent this Merlin to be like BBC!Merlin…but there might be some similarities.

* * *

**Chapter Three**

_I would not anticipate the relish of any happiness, nor feel the weight of any misery, before it actually arrives. ~ Anon_

**Edward**

Edward recalled the first time he'd ever seen Myrddin Emrys. It was during the war, and most of the vampires were meeting in Russia to be assigned groups and ranks. Edward was remembering his human father, who died during the first Great War. Just beyond that everyone else within a ten mile radius was recalling their own conflicts. That night Edward witnessed the Picts fight the Celts, the French Revolution, Spartans at battle, and through Lily he witnessed Claudius conquer Britain.

Then a mind entered his spear of power, and for the first time ever he thought magic could actually exist.

Myrddin Emrys was magic, or as close to it as vampires could get. He didn't see the world like most people, every perception as different as fingerprints. He was one of the rare few, that Edward thought only comprised of himself and Lily, that saw everything as it truly was –safe for the glowing additions of his gift.

Edward loved the olden letters that danced through the air as Lily saw them, but he was absolutely captivated by the curtain of equations written in old runes he'd seen somewhere before, instead of roman numerals. He watched as a line of runes ran across Myrddin's vision and combusted –when they did a peace lily appeared out of thin air and floated towards Laelius.

"Giving flowers to strange men now, are you Merlin?" his companion had drawled lewdly. The blond man turned out to be Arthur, the mythical king. Those two hadn't spent more than a day apart since they were in their twenties –until Africa.

While standing in the middle of the wilderness without a stitch to his name, Edward contemplated the relationship between the Magician and his Lily. He knew there was nothing sexual between them, but Edward couldn't help but feel a bit jealous. He wanted to live forever with the little roman, in Odin's Cabin, in the middle of nowhere –and he wanted to do it without hearing Lily's every thought.

Myrddin couldn't have been very happy to see him though; Edward rationalized as he stood naked in the middle of the small courtyard. Either the Magician wasn't happy to see him or that particular trap was set to be triggered by everyone walking along that path.

"Are you just going to stand there?" Lily asked from behind him.

Edward turned on the balls of his feet and automatically looked down to meet Lily's sunset eyes. Pure happiness washed over him and he felt as if he'd taken his first breath in eight years. Lily had appeared to him as flawed perfection. He pulled his old lover into his arms and rubbed his nose into the Ancient's temple where the smell of him was potent on his skin. He then let go, not because of the awkwardness of being naked but he needed to allow himself at least the mockery of control.

"I was thinking, and wondering how pissed Merlin is to have magically stolen my clothes," Edward strove to be as honest as possible but Lily could still see a short stream of coded words appear above his head. Whatever those characters meant only brightened Lily's disposition.

"I missed you also," he replied, "and Merly isn't mad at all. He just thought that if you were naked I could jump your bones and all the worlds' problems would be solved. In fact, he's already left with Leo to Forks."

That sounded like Myrddin-logic alright, it also didn't seem like the entire truth. "But?" he asked, because they couldn't talk about Merlin without also talking about his latest plot.

"He is planning something," Lily admitted, his bright eyes looking skyward in thought while he tapped a thin finger to his chin, "but he hasn't let his mind accept specifics." He turned and began walking forward; a part of his mind reminding them both that there was no time to just stand around talking. He took hold of Edwards hand to lead him into the house and continued, "So the Absolute Truth is very general. All I know is he's planning something called Operation You're-Both-Assholes and Alice is holding the details."

"Interesting," Edward said and by that he meant he was annoyed with Merlin and his sister.

Lily smiled as he read the truth from the air. "I know, right?" he said in agreement.

Edward took a nano second to look around the courtyard and commit its small changes to mind. Lily had planted different flowers and the fountain in the center, that had once been an image of a cherub, was replaced with a Celtic inspired tree.

That was the limit of changes the entire house had undergone. One he stepped inside Edward was taken back; it felt like the forties all over again –when Edward and Lily had built the cabin by hand. The woodwork was still the original, heavy and warm with ravens carved in subtle places. Lily's silks and roman quirks still decorated their home. Edward's upright piano was still against one wall –still the main feature of the room. Lily kept everything the same. Lily's mind was telling him that the little roman had even kept some of his old clothes. It was like he never really left.

Edward held onto Laleius' hand all the way into their bedroom, where the targa armoire still took up a lot of room, there was still not light fixture, and the bed still looked like a mountain of quilts and silk things. His drawers were still probably full of his things.

"I'm all packed, we're just waiting on you now," Lily teased as he left Edward, so the younger vampire could dress in privacy.

Edward quickly chose things that looked most in-style; a pair of wool trousers, a plain white shirt, and a waistcoat. He liked the vest, it was so old people were probably calling it vintage and it reminded him of the time he was born into. Alice never let him wear waistcoats, just like she never let Emmett wear suspenders or Jasper wear double-breasted jackets. He donned socks and a pair of wingtip shoes before he went in search of Lily.

Edward found him in the kitchen, checking and rechecking the coolers of blood –to make sure that Merlin would have enough food to last them a while. Neither of the little black haired trouble makers liked the task of breaking into blood banks, Edward recalled. Lily was simply fretting, but not over the blood –there was something else on his mind.

"You know about Bella," he said aloud. They might as well talk about it before they arrive at Forks. Once they returned to Washington there would be no such thing as privacy or free time.

Lily nodded, his long black curls swayed slowly. "As far as I know, everyone with the fight of Universal Foresight knows. Merly saw it one day, while he was playing with time equations." That word, 'equations' was the word Merlin preferred people talk about his gift –even though he'd always called it magic in his own mind. Edward supposed they'd seen too many witch burnings to be comfortable with anything else.

"He saw me with Bella?" Edward pressed on, swallowing the lump ion his throat, "forever?"

"He saw you happier than you've ever been before, because you found your blessed silence," Lily answered flippantly. One hand on his cocked hip was not a good sign, but he had no ill thoughts towards Edward. "Just before New Years, nine years ago." That explained the timing of that painful experience; Lily making him promise to try and make it work with someone else. "If that means you marry a human girl then so be it," he threw his small hands into the air, but his words and intentions were sure.

"You know that if I marry her," Edward flinched at the tense and ignored Lily's curious expression, "_when_ I marry her, we can no longer be together. I take my vows seriously."

That had always been an odd issue between them. Edward grew up in a time when religion, the _Catholic_ religion, was a life-style; people weren't gay and they most certainly were monogamous. Lily was raised in ancient Rome –he'd been a lover to the seventh and last king of Rome and lived in Tarquin's house along side the king's wife. It had been a culturally acceptable thing.

To Edward though, marriage meant he'd stop sleeping with Lily. That their once-a-decade-maybe-twice meetings would end.

Lily made an 'ew' face but said nothing. Mentally, he said plenty. Visions of Edward knowing a woman _biblically_ were interrupted by an angry Lily with a baseball bat. In Lily's imagination he then climbed into the bed –from there his mind took a deviant turn, far more so than bludgeoning a woman to death.

Edward cleared his throat and reminded them both they had somewhere to be, whatever those words actually meant (Edward was sure it was along the lines of 'I really, really want do –but I can't') made Lily grin widely.

'I thought you said you have packed,' Edward wanted to say, but what came out was "Where are your bags?" which happened to be the honesty of his thoughts.

Lily shouldered the cooler with the blood in it. His mind turned to the truck that Leo was driving, with an image of Merly sitting in the passenger side undulating oddly to the radio –Leo did not look amused. In the back of the pickup was a mountain of belongings. Edward was sure Lily had only packed a single suitcase of tunics and a pair of pants for the entire trip, even though he knew it would be a while until they return to Odin's Cabin.

On the other hand, Merlin was under the impression his world would be in ruin if he didn't bring everything he thought he might need –mostly tools he used for infusing his equations with inanimate objects, and the occasional potion.

Edward recalled that Merlin had jumped on the humanitarian diet the moment he'd heard of it, and he'd dragged Arthur along with him. Unfortunately, there was a vital antigen in human blood that Merlin couldn't survive without –hence the human blood Lily had packed. So in recent years his meals consisted of a blend of animal blood and whatever type they could pilfer from various banks. He mixed it all together and drank form a thermos. In consequence Merlin's eyes resembled the color of molten lava, rather than the lighter shades of pure vegetarians. It never stopped him for looking for a substitute for the antigen he needed –thus he never moved without a full 'potions lab' at his disposal. It lifted Edward's mood to know that his friend didn't quit.

Turning back to Lily, Edward gave a genuine smile. He was happy, for the first time in a while. Bella made him happy, that was true, but not like family and friends did. "Let's go, we still have to stop by Rogue Manor on the way back."

Lily's own expression became lighter. He'd always liked the forests of Oregon, not as much as his and Edwards home in northern California, but there was something about having a place to go –a place where his own kind could survive on animals and without the temptation of humans. It did make hauling human blood around a little awkward though…

"I talked to Charlotte just yesterday," Lily told Edward as she pulled his tunic over his head, leaving the leather belt and the case that hung across his backside. There were no fabrics in existence that could survive the friction of vampiric speed. Edward stripped his own clothing and stuffed them into Lily's side satchel. Then he and Edward began their jaunt northbound. They passed tree's that looked more like blurs, but their endurance was great and conversation wasn't a challenge. "They want to start keeping cows, to graze and feed off of," Lily continued.

"That's an idea," Edward replied. None of the immortals he knew kept livestock, it seemed useless. Once they gave themselves over to the hunt primal instinct looked to feed off of anything warm blooded in the area, usually resulting in death. Merly, like always, was an unusual case, and couldn't stand to kill animals. Usually it was Lily who went out into the forest and milked the wild life with a rather intimidating needle, a rubber tube, and gallon jugs. They ate at the dinner table, out of various collections of cups and goblets. Edward was sure they were about to introduce the method to his family, who would only be too willing to take on that tradition. Maybe Carlisle would be interesting in buying some goats or something.

Rogue Manor was only a couple hours jog north, but despite being faster on their feet than Leo was in his beat up old truck –the Spartan and the Magician would arrive in Forks first. They could drive straight through and meet Carlisle at their hidden colonial before Lily and Edward could pull themselves away from the safe-house.

It was just as soon as Edward and Lily had coasted to a stop in front of the tall estate that Anya had taken one look at Lily and pulled her beau into the house and pushing Peter out. Edward and Lily, Mind and Truth, took that opportunity to put their clothes back on. It was only polite.

Lily wasn't much of a talker unless the company was over a hundred years old, which Aubrey Hanson was certainly not. The gangly blond was thirty eight with the looks of a twenty-one year old, a baby by Ancient terms, irked the Roman by just being in the same territory. Aubrey's sire and lover was Anya, one of Lily's youngest coven sisters, and more historically known as Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna of Russia. Edward had never met her before, but he was excited.

They appeared to be the same age, in exactness. Both were born in 1901 and had been sired when they were seventeen, making them twins by vampire standards. According to Lily's memories it was Rebecca who took the role of teacher, which was normal for their large coven. Edward squinted in thought as he realized that their actual sire, the one who turned them, was never around. It seemed he appeared to turn someone, stayed three days to ensure they survived, and then foisted them off on one of his other children. Edward made a frustrated noise in the back of his throat that Lily accurately translated but didn't answer.

Lily's care for Anya was obvious great, even though he could barely stand to be around her in her early years. Edward thought maybe, just maybe the reason he'd allowed Edward to get close to him that first night was because of the guilt he felt for not taking care of his own sister –leaving Rebecca to instead.

Because of the little Roman's aversion to newborns there wouldn't be much conversation, Edward knew and from a glimpse of his vampire Twins memories he could see she also understood. That didn't mean the Russian princess loved her awkward nerd any less, and Anya had spent some time explaining her siblings so that the young one could understand as well.

Anya and Peter approached them casually; Anya wrapped her arms around her brother carefully in a very human greeting. The way Lily rubbed his nose against her temple, which was purely a vampire greeting, one that most vampires weren't taught.

"_Brat_," she said the Russian word for Brother, with much affection. They were never as close as Anya was to Rebecca, but he'd taken care of her in his own way and she understood that.

"_Infantia_," Lily teased back and then pulled away to greet Peter as well. "This is Edward," he introduced to Anya, because while Edward may know her mind inside and out by now, she did not know his. He knew Peter though, through the War and then through his own brother.

"I've heard of you," Anya said happily, "we're _aetas cognatus." _She said it properly, in it's Latin form, and smiled at Edward kindly. She truly was beautiful, and he felt the connection of _aetas_ even though they'd never met before. Much like he had with Rose and Alice, when he'd been minding his own business and just realized 'these are my sisters,' and all that meant. It made things a little more complicated, but Edward was simply tickled.

"I've heard of you as well," Edward replied and smiled, genuinely and not that crazy smile he sometimes got when he'd thought of something particularly cleaver. Then he turned to Jasper's friend, "Peter," he said in equal, if less enthusiastic, fondness. This man was also family, through the shared vampirism and their care of a certain General.

"Edward," The small Mexican greeted. "Alice called ahead," Peter always was straight to business, which made him half successful in the rehabilitation of sanguinarians. The other half was his equally small wife, Charlotte. Peter, Edward read through the Spanish maps carefully, was nervous for another war. He'd been apart of the last newborn uprising and knew what they were capable of, and while he didn't detest newborns on the same level as Lily, he didn't believe armies of them should exist. There was something more there though, a piece of a puzzle that Merlin and Alice were trying to hide.

Edward turned to Lily to see if he'd gleaned any information. Peter may have said one thing but he meant 'We need to hurry. Something great is about to happen.'

Edward and Lily gave Peter suspicious looks but otherwise said nothing. It would do them no good if everyone and their sire knew Lily had a gift of Absolute Truth, or for Operation You're-Both-Assholes to shut down before they could figure out what was going on.

**Merlin**

Leonidus and Merlin arrived in Forks near night fall, the safest time for their kind. It had been a while since either of them had entered a human settlement and it was unnerving, that smell of warm blood. It didn't tempt Merlin as it used to, when it meant the difference between being competent and starved out of his mind in hunger. The smell was delicious still, but now when he thought about human blood it was more in the way one thought about a particularly tasty vitamin. It wasn't the entire meal, and Merlin did not approve of killing thousands of humans just for one person to survive.

Leo understood that. He was a Spartan, who lived to fight and still felt anger for his sire for denying him his Glorious Death, but killing needlessly went against everything he knew about life.

Arthur, Merlin thought under a heavy weight, Arthur valued people –he thought they were wonderful in all of their little creations and all of their greatest faults. Occasionally one would let him down, completely crush his world of happiness with acts of unrepentant cruelty. That was why they went off to war…

Merlin cut the train of thought off while he still could. It would only lead to debilitating sadness when he needed to be productive. He found the task hard to achieve though, because almost all of his thoughts led straight to Arthur. What would Arthur think, I can't wait to tell Arthur, Arthur would laugh at that joke, Arthur would have called me an idiot and…it just went on and on.

The Magician turned to his friend. The only things Leo and Arthur had in common had been their kingly presence and golden hair. Leonidus had actually been in charge of Merlin's welfare during the 90's, after Poca (his name for Rebecca) and Anya, but before Lily. He knew that they were his babysitters, that he needed someone to be with him after Arthur…and he appreciated it.

War was stain on his memory, but his conflict could actually bolster Operation You're-Both-Assholes as well as his plans to investigate the Volturi. Already they were probably stirring in curiosity since Demetri, their tracker, was told to keep tabs on all of their locations. They weren't aware of all the Ancients, but Leo and Lily were on their short list –as were the Cullen's. Poca had also made the list; if Merlin remembered right her stunt with the Paradise Birds won her a lot of attention. Anya, who Merlin had met occasionally, was safe from recognition –everyone, including the Volturi, thought she'd died with the rest of her family.

The presence of Lilly and Leo with the Cullens might not attract attention because Lily's and Edward's spitfire romance was legendary, but Poca was known for being where the fight is. Leo had gotten word to the French coven, who would arrive within a week, and _they were_ as high profile as a vampire could get. It was only a matter of time, about a week –maybe two, before the Italians begin to wonder what they're up to. Then they'd investigate, and those jerks would likely take the opportunity to launch an attack of their own. There's nothing Aro would like more than to crush those more powerful than him.

"You're thinking again," Leo said in a warning tone, glancing out of his peripheral to check on the gangly Magician. Deep-thinking-Merlin was never a safe Merlin, he'd learned sometime in 1992. It usually meant that something was going to explode, not that Merlin ever intended for his experiments to blow up –but the failed ones tended to. One memorable occasion Merlin tried to set Leo up with a tall, well-meaning girl and she was nearly blown to pieces –supposedly for having anything to do with Merlin, and ended up falling for his sister instead.

"A bit," Merlin admitted kindly, with a happy looking smile. "The list of our friends is pretty high profile. I'm not very excited to see the Volturi." They'd taken his King, after all. "…and your sire," Merlin added reluctantly.

The Coven of the Ancients didn't talk about their creator often. Once in a while he'd seek out one of his children and drop off a newborn, but he'd disappear again. If he wasn't creating them then he was…Merlin shook the thoughts out of his head. He wasn't one of the Ancients –well, technically he was, but he wasn't apart of their coven – so he didn't have a clear understanding of them.

Leonidus understood that and nodded, but there was nothing he could say to comfort his friend of himself. Arthur would have told him he was being an idiot and they had to pay for their crimes, Merlin thought as they'd passed the last of the little buildings and were encased in a sheath of trees. The tall greens and clouded sky were comforting, reminding him of his old home in the castle somewhere in modern Britain. He knew where it was of course, under layer after layer of equations that hide it from view and protected the families that still lived here.

Camelot was the last European refuge from the vampires that didn't wish to live under the Volturi's rule. There was not another like it, not in the Orient, not in Canada or Mexico. Life there was timeless, as no one aged and no one really wanted to. Technology was wasted on them, and a healthy pig was as valued as a teenager's iPhone.

It was stagnant, Merlin thought bitterly. That's why they left, because the both of them were so damn _bored_.

"Turn here," Merlin suddenly said, and Leonidus did so without complaint. He didn't have to ask the Magician why, because Merlin provided a clear answer. Kings never did like being told what to do suddenly, unless they got to know the reason for it. "There's a territory here, a hidden house. It's probably where we're meant to park. I feel them though, and the Skinwalkers. They're collected in a clearing twenty miles that way." Merlin pointed towards the north. Leonidus just shook his head; an Ancient and he still didn't know which direction was which.

Just a hand full of minutes later Leo's old truck was parked in the drive of a pristine colonial, and the two vampires had approached the clearing.

Immediately Leo's sword was drawn. He never went anywhere without a blade, and the memories of that last batch of Skinwalkers didn't help his paranoia any. The wolves didn't do them any favors, by letting loose ferocious warnings as soon as they were within smelling distance.

Leo wrinkled his nose obviously while Merlin pretended nothing stank. Truth was though, that Merlin had never smelt anything so horrible. It was as if their very existence was screaming 'get off our land.' Instinctively Merlin's mind began to conjure runes, invincible to everyone but him, and led them down the length of his arm. The energy pooled there and read the intent of the symbols, creating an aerosol can. Inside was a complex formula he liked to call 'non-scent.' The spray nullified every smell, like magic.

"I don't think I've ever been so happy to see you," someone said from Merlin's right. He hadn't been paying attention to his surroundings and, in consequence, he'd nearly jumped out of his skin.

It was only Jasper though, looking as torn between control and savagery as he always did, but slightly relieved for the conjured can of 'non-scent.' There was guilt there, though. Merlin didn't blame him, or maybe he did. It was Jasper Witlock who led him and Arthur against Ciaus…but Arthur had wanted it also.

Merlin covered those thoughts with a jubilant smile and half turned so he could wrap the bony Texan in a hug. A real hug that required the use of his entire body, not one of those emotionally backwards side hugs that Arthur was always so fond of. Merlin went so far as to wrap his legs around the General, who stood there with the patients of a saint.

"Oh," Merlin said in remembrance and returned his feet to the ground. Immediately he started digging through his pockets, the hundreds and hundreds of pockets on his magical pants. Then he found the little gold and red coin he was looking for and shoved it in Japser's hands before the other vampire could pull away. "It's to commemorate your first fifty years. I would have given it to you earlier, but I kept forgetting," he said innocently enough.

Jasper looked down into his hand, at the gold and the intricately carved Latin words done in ruby. It was a 'fifty year chip,' in memory of the time that had gone by without drinking from humans. He knew Rebecca had one, as did Edward. Emmett and Rose knew they existed but hadn't asked for one, and Alice kept hers in her sock drawer until she could display it proudly next to him. Carlisle had a wonderful gold coin with emerald inlay for never having tasted the blood of a human, as did Esme.

Jasper held his coin up to the light and smiled without strain. There were allies on their way, friends that knew no bounds, and thanks to Merlin's non-scent he couldn't Bella's blood or the foul stench of the wolves.

Life was good.

Then a small girl with long russet curls broke through the tree line with conviction, making a beeline for the only human. Merlin recognized Anya almost instantly, and he could smell the rest of the crowd just outside the clearing –no doubt putting their clothes back on.

Naked as the day she was born, Anya walked up to the only human and shouted at a volume slightly greater than a humans "You're not good enough for him!"

* * *

**To Those Who Just Read:**

This took a while to finish. Actually, I'm sure I'm still forgetting something…I'll figure it out later.

Anyway…more ancients, I think I went a little too far.

It's just that…I was sort of in a rush. My friend and I have a new commitment, we post a new chapter every day for a week, take a week off, and then undergo another full week. So…today marks the first day of our first On Week. Yay!

I don't know what else to say...

Thank you for reading.

I like quotes, song suggestions, and reviews (especially the reviews)

Al


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